Fake Saintess, True Saintess (1)

As soon as I concluded that Celista must have realized I was the Saintess, my mind started racing.

If she truly was certain I was the Saintess, then many parts I had been hesitating about were resolved at once. It meant I no longer needed to bother being wary of her or carefully bring up the topic.

‘Considering the Machart subjugation operation, it was something I had to talk about eventually anyway.’

It just became easier to talk about once I knew it wasn’t my secret alone. I didn’t know how Celista had figured out I was the Saintess, but as a High Priest, she would have had plenty of ways to find out.

Fortunately, getting a chance to talk to her alone wasn’t difficult. She was, after all, the healing priest in charge of treating me after I was injured in this Evaluation Match, and she was still in my hospital room, using Divine Power to heal my body.

“…May the blessings of the Sun and the Goddess watch over this small life….”

Until now, I had shared a room with Agnes, so there had been almost no chance to be alone. But today, Agnes had already been discharged in the morning, and only Celista continued to come to the hospital room at the usual time for Divine Power treatment, so there was no better opportunity to talk alone than now.

If I could even bring Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot along, the conversation would flow much more smoothly, but hoping for things to go that well would be too greedy of me.

“…Today’s treatment is finished, Lillith-nim.”

“Thank you, Celista Saintess-nim.”

“Then I will come again at this time tomorrow. I’ll be going now….”

“Ah, Saintess-nim. Could I ask you something briefly before you leave?”

“…….”

Celista flinched and froze in place.

Her reaction itself was suspicious, as if she was hiding something, so my suspicion gradually turned into conviction.

“…W-What are you curious about?”

“I’m not sure if I should be telling the Saintess this, but…”

“Yes, yes.”

“Lately, every time I receive treatment from Celista Saintess-nim, I feel a sacred energy surging from deep within my chest. Could you please check if it’s some kind of illness, or just a natural phenomenon during the healing process?”

“…Uh, well….”

Celista stammered, her expression stiff, as soon as she heard my words, and that reaction was as good as an answer to me.

It was almost certain that she had noticed I was the Saintess, and she probably hadn’t expected me to bring up the topic of the Saintess first.

After all, there was no way for her to realize whether she was a Saintess or not on her own. The feeling of sacred energy surging from my chest was just something I made up on the spot.

But this level of questioning was enough to make Celista, who already suspected I was the Saintess, reveal my identity.

Unlike most ordinary people who believed Celista was the Saintess, she was one of the few who knew she was a ‘Fake Saintess’.

And finally, if it was Celista, with her strong self-sacrificing tendencies, she would surely choose to acknowledge me as the Saintess here….

“I-Is that, so…?”

“Yes, Celista Saintess-nim.”

“Well, that’s… surprising….”

“…Yes?”

“A-Actually, I just remembered I have many patients to see today…! M-May I excuse myself first?!”

“W-Wait a moment! Celista Saintess….”

-Drrrk, Thud!

“…-nim!”

However, contrary to my expectations, Celista fled the hospital room as soon as I half-revealed that I was the True Saintess. Thanks to her unexpected reaction, I was left all alone in the hospital room.

…This, if I’m not careful, the situation might get a bit troublesome.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

After Celista rushed out of my room, I quietly pondered what had just happened.

‘Was the way I said it wrong?’

Perhaps I was a little inconsiderate. I should have thought more about how terrifying it would be for her, the Fake Saintess, to have the True Saintess appear before her in this situation.

‘At the very least, I should have talked about Celista’s safety first….’

That would have required Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot’s cooperation, but revealing that I was the Saintess while we were alone might have been a bit hasty.

Of course, I couldn’t deny that the situation was urgent, with danger right around the corner. I had to find a way to utilize the Saintess’s power before the Noble exchange meeting that Prince Machart would attend.

To do that, I had planned to subtly bring up the topic of the Saintess to Celista, and naturally lead the conversation to how I would transfer the Saintess’s power to her once everything was over. I never expected a problem to arise from merely revealing that I was the Saintess.

‘If I can’t persuade her today, I only have about a day left. This is bad.’

As I held my head, deep in thought, I suddenly heard the hospital room door open. This time, it wasn’t Celista, but a man who entered the room.

-Drrrk.

“Yo, Lilgirlchang.”

…That bastard’s acting up again. I told him not to call me that.

“…Don’t talk so loudly, you idiot.”

“There’s no one in the hallway anyway. Almost everyone else has been discharged besides you.”

“Still, be careful. And unlike you, I’m a transmigator, and I can’t afford to be found out, you know?”

“Ah, right. Sorry, sorry.”

As Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot barged into the hospital room with an utterly unapologetic expression, I quietly sighed to myself.

The way he acted on Lua Gallery or how seriously he followed the game’s story seemed earnest, but as soon as I revealed I was a transmigator, his attitude suddenly became incredibly relaxed.

“Weren’t you a different character until recently? You seemed pretty normal when I saw you at Seraphine’s after-party late last year.”

“Back then, I was holding back because other kids were around. I don’t let loose like this in front of anyone else but you, anyway.”

“Then at least be a little tense in front of me. Every time you open your mouth, it’s ‘Lilgirlchang, Lilgirlchang’….”

“Well, sorry. But honestly, having someone from my hometown in front of me after so many years, I just naturally let my guard down. Kids like Celista and Silena are close, but I still have to ‘act like a Hero’ in front of them, you know? But with you, I don’t really need to manage my affection level, so, yeah.”

“…It’s fine if you only act like this in front of me, but please, for the love of god, be careful in front of others. Just thinking about what kept trying to pop out of your mouth during that meeting still makes me uneasy.”

“What can I do? I’ve seen your Lilgirlchang nickname on Lua Gallery more times than I’ve seen you here. It’s really not easy to stop it from coming out automatically.”

…If he puts it that way, maybe so.

Indeed, I had seen his Lua Gallery nickname more often before I knew him as Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot in this world.

Of course, in my case, I was too busy surviving day to day for several years after transmigrating, so I had forgotten all those past memories.

“But what about Ethan? Why are you alone at this hour?”

“Ethan? He’s at the Student Council, of course.”

“…Ah, right. Now that I think about it, the Student Council’s work period must still be ongoing.”

“By the way, I heard you and Ethan are quitting the Student Council after just one year. Is that true?”

“…There’s a reason for that. It’s a bit complicated, with various circumstances intertwined.”

I didn’t bother mentioning that the cause was him and Seraphine, as it would be superfluous. I figured he’d feel subtly uncomfortable if he heard that Ethan and Seraphine’s relationship had gone awry because of him.

Wait, now that I think about it, if he came before Ethan, I don’t need to worry about the Celista problem, do I?

“Perfect timing, you know.”

“Huh?”

“Since you’re here, help me persuade Celista. Just subtly tell her that I might be the Saintess.”

“Huh? Why suddenly? Are you perhaps thinking of joining the Hero Party?”

“Are you crazy? Why would I join that? It’s obvious I’d be suffering like hell for years; I had enough of that in the game.”

“Well, I mean… if you call it suffering like hell, it is suffering like hell, but….”

Perhaps because he had followed my guide and almost cleared the game, he seemed to understand that the Hero Party’s path was one of hardship.

“I only need one thing. To receive consecration from Celista and awaken as the Saintess.”

“Awaken as the Saintess… W-What?!”

“Got a problem?”

“It’s not that I have a problem, but… Is that, possible…?”

“What?”

“Didn’t you already go all the way with Ethan? How can you awaken as a Saintess if you’re not a virgin….”

-Thwack!

“Ugh, cough…!”

My fist reflexively shot out and landed squarely on Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot’s solar plexus, making him hunch forward, clutching his chest.

“Th-This guy’s a complete lunatic, isn’t he?!”